Type-writing-machine ribbon feeding and operating mechanism.



I. ALEXANDER.

I'YPE WRITINGIIIACHINE RIBBON FEEDING AND OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. I3. I914 Z SHEETS-SHEET I.

:II MO EfiEFIQI. Patented Dec. 7, 1915.

I. ALEXANDER TYPE WRITING MACHINE RIBBON FEEDING AND OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED NOV 13. I914.

31 128E? fiagwq I Patented Dec. 7, 1915. 9 9 2 SHEETS, SHEET 2.

5g 51 J5 5a 5 l V N] Z Ljg A? IZ=| 5 36 W P j I 47 f" 4 4 v Wihvmao: 3 Woe Whoa Lil JESSE ALEXANDER, 31

e a a WT, ii i iii i s,

ASSIGNOR O23 TU GEORGE W. FOTTER, OF BROOKLYN, NYE- 'YQRK.

TYPEWEITING-MACHINE RIBBON FE EIBING- AND OPERATING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

ilatented Dec. 7, 19153.

Application filed llovemher la, 1914:. Serial Ii'o. 971,880.

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER, a

citizen of the United States of America, and

residing at New York, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented n w and useful improvements 1n Type- V citing-Machine Ribbon Feeding and Operating Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of my invention are to simplify and generally improve the ribbon feeding; mechani n.

In accordance with these objects I pro pose to provide driving mechanism at only one oi the two spool shafts of the machine and to impart the requisite movement to the other spool shaft by a simple form of driv ing connection from the first spool shaft. This eliminates one of the customary sets of driving mechanisms for both the spool shafts reducing the number of parts and lightening the action.

The oh 'iving of the complished herein by providing it with a ratchet Wheel which is fast on the shaft and 15 arranged to be engaged by a driving pawl operated from the action of the machine, and

the drive to the other spool shaft is eil'ectetl by providing a reversal operating ratchet loosely engaged on the first shaft and connected by a belt or similar endless connection with the second shaft. The direction of ribbon feed'is thee dependent upon which one of the ratchets is beingoperated. Ordinarily there will be a separate drive pawl iior each ratchet and the direction of ribbon feed will be controlled by the disengagement of one pawl and the engagement of the other pawl in respect to the ratchets.

Various other features will appear as the 5 ecification proceeds.

are terms of, description rather than of liinitation, except as may be required by the prior art.

Figure l, is a vertical l sectional view through the'central portion of a typewriter constructed in accordance "with and embody ing theinvention. Fig.2, is enlarged do,"

first spool shaft is ac tail View in plan and with parts broken away and 1n section of the driving mechanism. is a detail View of one of the stirrups rthe shift rod, broken may to show the pawl supported thereby. F i, is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the lane of the line ii of Fig. l. I ig. 5, s a front View of the machine with the frame in section and various parts removed to more clearly disclose the ribbon feed mechanism.

in the drawings, the frame of the machine is designated '7, and this, it Will be understood may beef any suitable approved. construction. The key and type bar action also ivill be of any approved construction, Preferably such as disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 871,879 of even consisting in a general Way shafts are journaled in suitable bearings 16 at their npperends and at their lower ends are shown as stepped'in the bearing; lugs 17. The first spool shaft (14) carries ta c ratchet Wheels 20 and '21 spacedon the shaft one alcove the other and provided with teeth facing; in opposite directions, as indicated in Fig. 2. The upper ratchet 20 is fast on the shaft and serves when engaged by its drive pawl 22 to transmit a ribbon feeding movement to this shaft. The other ratchet 21 is loosely engaged on the shaft as by being carried by a loose sleeve 23 and is arranged to be engaged and. operated by a drive paWl'Q L The two drive awn 22 and 2% are shown as operated by upstanding rocker arms 25,

and 2.6 respectively on the rock shaft 27.

This shaft naa'y'he joui'naled iii the sidesof the frame, as indicated at 26 in Fig.2 and a rocking motion is imparted thereto in any suitable may, as by providing it With rear- Wardly extending arms 29 engaged by links 30 connected with the universal bar 51. in. the illustration the rock shaft 2? is utilizedv also to o meats the ribbon liilt dis osed at 1 1 Z. the back oi the segment plate as and con nected at its lower end to an. arm 34 fast on the shaft.

it will be apparent fi'oin the foregoing that when the drive new is engaged with posite direction is obtainedin the present its ratchet 20, which is fast onthe shaft 14, I

said shaft will be turned and the ribbon will be wound on the spool carried by this shaft, the ribbon 'feed in this case being toward the left. Ribbon feeding movement in theopdisclosure by disengaging pawl 22 from its ratchet and engagingpawl 24. with its;

ratchet 21.. This ratchetr'Zl, is, as before described, freely revoluble on the shaftlc' andis connected by suitable driving means with the other spool shaft. Such driving means here take the form of a pulley 3'6 on the lower end of the ratchet sleeve and a belt 37 connecting said pulley with a pulley 38 on the lower end of the second spool shaft. Consequently the ratchet 21, when in operation, serves through the connections described to impart ribbon feeding moveinentto the second spool shaft in a directionto feed the ribbon toward the right.

The engagement and di'sengagementof the driving pawls are effected by any suitable means, suchmeans here taking the form of a. shift rod 40 carrying abutments to position the pawls in respect to their ratchets. These 7 abutments are shown as stirrups ll and 42 in which the pawls are slidingly engaged and supported (Fig. 3). The spacing of these stirrups [on the shift rod is such that in one position of the'rod, one pawl will be engaged and the other disengaged from its ratchet and in the other position of the shift rod, the first paw]. will be disengaged and the second pawl will be engaged with its ratchet. The shift rod'isprovided at its outer extended end with a handle orbutton 43 and a s rin er en 'a in in notches 45 in the rod or other means of a similar nature may be provided for holding the rod in either of its shifted positions.

The escapement mechanism may be of any suitable construction, that shown consisting of a toothed escapement rocker 50, en gaging with a rack 51 on the carriage 52' and "operated by a link 53 connected with the universal bar, A spring 55 maintains the rocker inits normal position and this spring also Wlll serve to hold the universal bar, j

parts in their rock shaft 27 and connected normal position of rest.

The ribbon feed mechanism of this invention will be seen to be extremely simple and inexpensive of construction and by the reduction of the number of the parts andother simplification a much lighter touch and speed of action is obtained. a

What'I claim is 1. In a typewriter ribbon spool shafts, reversely facing ratchet wheels on one of said spool shafts, one of said ratchets being fast and the other being loose feed, ribbon on said shaft, pulleys on the respective spool shafts, the pulley on said ratchetv shaft being loosely engagedmn said shaft butfixedto the loose ratchet thereon so as to rotate therewith and the'pulley on the,

other shaft being fixed thereto, a belt traversing said pulleys, driving pawls arranged for engagement with the respective ratchet wheels and means controlling engagement and disengagement of the pawls in respect to their respective ratchet wheels.

2. In a typewriter ribbon feed, a frame, a typewriting action mounted therein, a pair Q of uprightribbon spoolshafts journaled in the frame, a ratchet wheel fast on one of said shafts, a reversely facing ratchet wheel loosely engaged on said shaft, a'roclsshaftoperated from the typewriting action, rocker arms on said, rock shaft, pawls connected to said rocker arms and'operated thereby, a displaceable shift rod, means on said shift rod engaging the pawls to carry said pawls upon shifting of'the rod, one into engagement and the other out of engagement with its respec-' tive ratchet wheel, and a driving connection from the loose ratchet wheel aforesaid to the other-spool shaft.

3. In a typewriter ribbon feed, a frame, a' typewritmg action mounted therein, a pair of upright ribbon spool shafts journaled in the frame, a ratchet wheel fast on one of said shafts, a reversely facing ratchet wheel loosely engagedon said shaft, a rock shaft operated from the typewriting action, rocker arms on said/rock shaft, pawls connected to JESSE ALEXANDER.

' Witnesses:

GEO. A. MARSHALL, GEo. W. POTTER. 

